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Messa a 4 da Cappella 1640

Introduction

This setting of the Ordinary of the Mass is one of only three by Monteverdi that survive complete, though many more must have been lost if we are to believe Monteverdi’s comment in a letter of 2 February 1634 that he had to write a new Mass every year for Christmas Eve. Although sections of Masses by Monteverdi in an up-to-date concerted style survive, the three complete works are written in a style which had, by the 1630s, become known as the stile antico (the old style): that is, they are written deliberately in the restrained a cappella style of the late sixteenth century.

It has been suggested that the motive with which all the main movements of the Selva morale Mass begin is drawn from the beginning of the madrigal ‘La vaga pastorella’, published by Monteverdi in his first book of madrigals (1587) and that the Mass dates from around this period. The thematic material is indeed similar to the opening of the madrigal, but the apparently effortless flow of the polyphony suggests that the Mass itself belongs to a period of mastery rather than apprenticeship.

The concerted Mass sections printed in the Selva morale include settings of three texts—‘Crucifixus’, ‘Et resurrexit’ and ‘Et iterum venturus est’—the second of which includes violins as well as continuo accompaniment. Together, these three sections form a complete paragraph of the Creed. The original context for which they were written is uncertain, but Monteverdi indicates that they can be used, for variety, in place of the corresponding sections of the a cappella Mass.

Recordings

'This is life-enhancing stuff, breathtakingly exciting at times, exquisitely beautiful at others. If King and his forces maintain the standard they se ...'The King's Consort shows complete affinity with both the dramatic and the lyrical aspects of Monteverdi's style. No ensemble could be better suited t ...» More

Glory be to God on high and on earth peace, good will towards men. We praise thee. We bless thee. We worship thee. We glorify thee. We give thanks to thee for thy great glory. O Lord God, heavenly king, God the Father almighty, O Lord the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father. You takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. You takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. Thou, that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy on us. For thou only art holy. Thou only art the Lord. Thou only art most high, Jesus Christ. With the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten son of God, born of his Father before all worlds, God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man. And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, he suffered and was buried. And the third day he rose again according to the scriptures. And ascended into heaven: and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead: whose kingdom shall have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, Lord and giver of life: who proceedeth from the Father and Son, who with the Father and Son is worshipped and glorified: who spoke by the prophets. And in one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, grant us peace.